No, I found the baby stage much harder with the second because we also had to juggle the first child. Also, I feel like we are really busy with two and I somewhat feel like we should be providing more attention to the second than we have. In any event, I don't we have enough energy/bandwidth to support having a third child. Also, financially it would be challenging due to daycare and 529s.

Currently struggling with this decision but it's due to hard pregnancies (20 weeks of bedrest) and terrible PPA and PPD. The infant stage goes much faster with each kid, as others have said, so if that's the only thing holding you back I say go for the third!

I don’t like being pregnant or newborns and has three. Gap is two years and then three years, mostly to build up leave at work.

Youngest is 18 months and so glad he is here! Each kid’s infancy really does go faster than the one before it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Knew I couldn’t handle it.

+1 nor could our marriage and we are great partners and equal parents.

+1, it's a hard time. Our youngest is three and it's still a hard time. Cant wait for her to be 5.

NO

NO

NO

Yes. Bad mommy here. Hated being pregnant and infant part went by fast and in a blur. I bottle fed. LOVE my three. Love them. Best part of my life. And bottle feeding did not create subnormal people... my kids are perfect...?

I kind of wanted a third but did not because of the baby stage and stress of it all. Both of my older kids were really hard babies. They barely slept at all, breastfeeding was super painful, etc. My DH was level-headed enough to keep reminding me of how hard it was and that we shouldn't have a third now that our lives are finally getting a bit easier.

I'm sure we could have had a third and been happy, but it would definitely have been hard. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer.

Remember that you'd be four years older than you were the last time around. I don't know about you, but sleep deprivation gets much harder for me as I get older. But I guess it depends on how old you were when you had your first..

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Knew I couldn’t handle it.

+1 nor could our marriage and we are great partners and equal parents.

Well, I struggled on the decision for number two because I hated the baby stage too, but I really wanted adult children and visits and family. The baby stage is so short I figured it was worth it for a lifetime of family. We got lucky and number two was a breeze. I would have a third if I could. It goes by so fast.

I would really love a third but really don’t want to go through pregnancy, childbirth (I have also had 2 precipitous births so I’m scared of the 3rd one coming even faster than the first two and being born at home or in a car or something) or the infant stage again. I don’t hate the baby stage necessarily just find it incredibly difficult emotionally as I had ppd/ppa with both my kids and had trouble breastfeeding w my first. So I’m torn.

We had the third. I actually enjoyed some of the baby stage this time because I knew it would get better and knew it was my last. Still sucked but my third is just the sweetest. Older kids were 5 and 3 and I was early 30s.

I’m 31 btw

-OP

Yes. We both hate the baby stage but had four. It’s just a stage. Sucks. Bad.

Short term pain for long term gain.

One crappy year to get 80 good ones.